Hard Numbers: US Dems cut Israel military aid, Taliban want UN rep, Lithuanians told to ditch Chinese phones, Boris the dad

Hard Numbers: US Dems cut Israel military aid, Taliban want UN rep, Lithuanians told to ditch Chinese phones, Boris the dad
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon.
REUTERS/ Ammar Awad

1 billion: US House Democrats this week voted to cut $1 billion worth of military aid for Israel. The money — which was stuffed into a larger appropriations bill meant to fund the US government and raise the debt ceiling — was supposed to go specifically to Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. The move sets up a showdown between progressives who want to slash US aid to Israel and the pro-Israel moderate wing of the party.

9: It'll be up to the nine members of the UN's credentials panel to decide whether to approve the Taliban's nominee to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations, who wants to speak next week on the last day of the 76th UN General Assembly. Afghanistan's UN seat is currently occupied by an official who was appointed by the previous, US-backed Afghan government.

449: Lithuania's government is asking its citizens to get rid of their Chinese-made cell phones. The Baltic country's cyber experts have found that one model has software blocking 449 search terms related to democracy in Hong Kong, Tibet or Taiwan independence, and that another is highly vulnerable to cyber attacks.

6: Ending years of speculation in the UK media, Boris Johnson has finally admitted the number of children he has: it's six, with a seventh on the way. The thrice-married British PM dropped the bomb during an interview about fatherhood, in which he also said he changes "a lot of nappies" for his 16-month-old son.

More from GZERO Media

A cargo ship is loading and unloading foreign trade containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China on May 7, 2025.
Photo by CFOTO/Sipa USA

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva on Saturday in a bid to ease escalating trade tensions that have led to punishing tariffs of up to 145%. Ahead of the meetings, Trump said that he expects tariffs to come down.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to US President Donald Trump at a car factory in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, on May 8, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali/Pool via REUTERS

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer achieved what his Conservative predecessors couldn’t.

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV (r), US-American Robert Prevost, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after the conclave.

On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV and becoming the first American pontiff — defying widespread assumptions that a US candidate was a long shot.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson talks with reporters in the US Capitol on May 8, 2025.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA

US House Speaker Mike Johnson is walking a tightrope on Medicaid — and wobbling.

US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on May 6, 2025.
REUTERS/Leah Millis

The first official meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump was friendlier than you might expect given the recent tensions in the relationship.